The Winter SemiFormal
by GoingVintage
Summary: The Winter Semi-Formal has come to McKinley. Rachel hates dances but gets a date, even though it's the wrong boy.... NOW A TWO-SHOT for Puck's POV at the request of a few people.
1. Chapter 1 Rachel

**Author's note: Just a quick one-shot that popped into my head while fixing dinner.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee….it has merely taken up residence in my brain.**

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Rachel sees the sign: "McKinley High School Winter Semi-Formal, this Friday Night". It's sprinkled with blue and white glitter and gold stars. The sign seems to mock her with its carefree attitude and promise of a good time.

Rolling her eyes, she presses her books a little tighter to her chest and heads toward 5th period.

Dances are stupid. Full of hormonal teenagers who gyrate instead of actually dance. She's glad she doesn't go to those stupid things anyway…

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She sits down in Glee, focusing on her sheet music. The chatter around her is all about the silly dance, of course. She hears Matt walk up and ask Mercedes if she wants to go. Mercedes excitedly says yes. When he walks away, she and Kurt press together to plan her dress.

Rachel shoves her nose deeper into her music, hoping this day ends soon.

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The halls are filled with conversation about the dumb dance, now only three days away. Everybody is going. Well….everybody but her. But alas, she has her evening already prepared and it sounds entertaining to her. She will give herself a facial and a pedicure and then watch _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers_ on DVD. It will be an awesome night.

Still, it would have been nice to at least be asked….

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She lies in bed later that night and thinks about the boy whom that she secretly wishes would ask her. She knows he won't. She knows he already has a date. She heard him ask a blonde Cheerio in the hallway, who squealed out a yes. And then he told her not to wear panties under her dress. He sauntered away after that, looking quite pleased with himself. Sighing, she rolls over. If she's lucky, she'll wake up in the morning with the flu and won't be able to go back to school until Tuesday, when the dance has been all but forgotten in the fickle minds of the McKinley High student body. She finally goes to sleep.

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No flu the next morning, unfortunately. But she gets the shock of her life the next day when she _is _asked. It's not by the boy she dreams of in the quiet of her room at night but at least she gets asked. His name is Robert and he's a shy, quiet junior in her art class. She says yes…almost without thinking. She will have to reschedule her plans but a facial can be done any night.

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She wishes she had a mom, or even a best friend, to help her pick out a dress. But she doesn't. Instead, she goes to the mall and follows the gaggle of teenage girls who are already dress shopping. Once they leave, she enters the store that they have just left. She sees a purple, off-the-shoulder dress that speaks to her. It costs more than Daddy wanted her to spend. But she rationalizes that he'll understand because it's her first dance. So she buys it.

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Friday's Glee practice is full of excitement as everyone is focused on the dance. Mr. Schuester has them run through a few songs and then gives up. They're too distracted.

_Teenagers,_ Rachel thinks. Even so, she can't help but be a tiny bit excited. She's never actually danced with a boy (because Glee choreography doesn't count.) She can't help but be nervous. She feels eyes on her and looks up from her hands. The brooding boy in the corner, the one who didn't ask her, looks away.

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Rachel is shocked at her own reflection. Her hair is piled on top her head in cascading curls. Her makeup is understated but makes her eyes look bright and her face dewy. And she loves the dress. She spins around in it once in her room. She smiles one of her biggest smiles because for once, she even thinks she looks hot.

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Robert picks her up at her house and is nice enough to stand through about 15 million pictures snapped by her Dads. Telling them to be careful, they leave for the dance. The ride is quiet. Robert is really, really shy. So Rachel does what she does best – she talks for the entire ride to school.

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They get to the dance pretty early. Rachel would never admit it if asked but she's actually really excited. They take their picture with the photographer and then find a seat at a table. They watch people dancing for a while. She sees the boy who didn't ask her on the floor with his blonde date. She can't help but wonder if she really did leave her panties at home. Rachel snorts to herself. _Probably. _She finally asks Robert if he wants to dance and he tells her in a minute. He needs to go talk to one of his friends. Then he disappears.

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An hour later, he hasn't come back. If Rachel were a normal girl, she would have cried. But she's not. She's used to people disappointing her at every turn. She tells herself it doesn't matter anyway. Dances really _are _stupid.

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She is standing in the hallway now, down by the Glee room, away from everyone else. She's getting ready to dig her cell phone out of her purse to call her Dad to come get her. Robert is gone. He's obviously not taking her home. Deciding to go look for him one more time, she goes back inside.

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He's still nowhere to be found. Leaning against the wall just inside the doors, she squeezes her eyes shut. She just wanted one dance.

When she opens her eyes again, he is coming toward her. Not Robert, but the other one. He's in dress pants and a dress shirt but no tie. She tells herself that his clothing makes his haircut look slightly less ridiculous. She thinks he's going to pass her by but he doesn't. He stops in front of her, thumbs hooked in his pants pocket.

"Hey, Berry," he says. "Wanna dance?"

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As she twirls around the dance floor, gazing into a pair of hazel eyes, she decides that maybe, just maybe, dances aren't so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2 PUCK

He sees the sign for the McKinley High Winter Semi-Formal and snickers. This school has a dance for everything. He is pretty sure that there must be a conspiracy between the school and the local businesses. The school has to make a cut from all the stupid dresses and corsages that are being sold. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many dances.

He's not going.

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His resolve weakens later in the week once he remembers that the last time he went to the dance, he got some serious tail. Sure, it was a high school girl, which isn't quite as exciting as one of Lima's resident mom's but…tail is tail. So maybe he will go. He hasn't gotten any in a while.

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Standing in the hall by his locker, he sees her walk by, clutching her books and looking at the floor. He wonders if she's going. He watches her stop at her locker and open it up slowly. He noticed that she was quiet the last two days in Glee. That's not like her. He thinks about asking her if she has some freaky virus or something that has made her shut up. He starts to walk over to her when he catches the sad look in her eyes. So he stops and instead, asks the nearest Cheerio if she wants to go to the dance. She screeches like a typical high school girl and says yes. For added effect, he tells her not to wear panties. As he walks away, he looks over at the sad one. She is staring into her locker.

He forgets to ask his date her name.

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She's not sad the next day, he notices. That means she must have been asked to the dance. Good, he thinks. He hates sad chicks. He wonders who asked her. Whoever he is, he's probably a douche.

He finds out from Santana that his date's name is Lacey.

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He's coming out of the music store at the mall when he sees her. She's milling around behind a cackling group of annoying chicks. Once they disappear, she goes into a dress store. He wonders what she'll buy. He thinks she'll look great in anything. He's looking forward to seeing her in whatever she buys. Then he remembers that she's not his date.

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It's Friday now and the dance is tonight. He's trying to be as excited about it as everyone else in Glee is. But he hates wearing dress shirts and he realizes that he knows nothing about his date. He looks over at her, the one he's not taking, sitting down in the first row, staring at her hands. He wonders if she's excited. She doesn't really show it. Probably because she's realized that her date, whoever he is, is a douchebag. Hopefully.

She looks over at him so he looks away.

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He picks Lacey up for the dance. She slides into the truck and asks if he has any Jonas Brothers CDs they can listen to. That's when he realizes he's made a mistake. He knows better than to ask out a freshman. It's going to be a long night. And he can already tell that he's not getting any.

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He sees her when she walks in on the arm of Douchebag. She's in a purple dress and her shoulders are showing. He thinks he even sees her shoulders shimmering. Her hair is all curly and she looks...better than usual. Like way better. She looks happy, too.

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He's dancing with Lacey, wishing he could go home and sneak a beer. After the song is over, Lacey excuses herself for like the 100th time and runs to the bathroom to check her makeup. He doesn't know why she bothers. He's probably not even going to kiss her. He spies the one in purple sitting alone at a table. She keeps looking around. She looks considerably less happy than she did before. He's thinking about going to check on her. But Lacey comes back, grabs his hand, and makes him slow-dance. When the song is finally over, he looks over to her spot at the table. She is gone.

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As the dance wears on, he keeps wondering where she is. Douchebag is nowhere to be seen either. Maybe they left early to be alone? The thought makes his stomach hurt.

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He escapes when Lacey runs back to the bathroom for the 47,000th time that night. What a waste of a perfectly good Friday night. He walks down a darkened hall and sees her, near the Glee room. She's digging through her purse. That sad look is back. He _knew _that guy was a douchebag.

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Lacey is giggling in the corner when she comes back into the gym. She looks to her right and to her left and then leans against the wall. He watches her for a moment. Her eyes are closed and her chest is rising up and down. His legs are moving without him even realizing it. He stops in front of her. She opens her eyes and he asks her to dance. She says yes.

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She weighs nothing in his arms. Her brown eyes are sparkling now. And she's smiling again. He leans down and whispers, "I would have told you he was a douche if you'd have asked."

She just smiles and lays her head on his chest.

This dance wasn't a total waste after all. Even if he's not getting any.


End file.
